Judd and his team consistently punch above their weight and have had numerous successes highlighting right wing corruption! Consider supporting their highly effective newsletter!
If a state mandates saying the 10 commandments in classrooms, teachers should ensure to make space for a reading from the Koran and any other religious text. That way it becomes educational at least. The GOP is fascist, I will say once again. Thanks for all you are doing Robert.
I found it so offensive that Tim Tebow was permitted to walk out on the football field and kneel and cross himself. If a Muslim walked out there and threw down his rug people would s h I t their pants! What an upheaval that would cause.
Remember ‘goose and gander’? Again, religion, the most destructive force on the planet. (my opinion of course, but certainly demonstrated in daily news).
Robert, two of my books and four of my "Telling Her Stories" programs explore how women fought for generations to get the right to vote so I was really taken aback to read Voter Rider's eye-popping statistics on women's voting eligibility in your column:
"Because of name changes associated with marriages and divorce, women frequently have a government-issued ID that does not match their legal name. As noted on the VoteRiders website, Based on current census data, the only available proof-of-citizenship documents possessed by almost 37 million voting-age women do not reflect their current name."
However I think you actually underestimate the damage -- you state: The above statistic is shocking. It means that nearly 15% of the eligible voting population (37 million/252 million) can be blocked from voting by restrictive voter ID laws.
I couldn't quickly find a breakdown of voting age population by gender but, given that men die younger than women, using a 55%/45% F/M ratio, it would mean that over 27% (37M/138M) of women in voter ID states are ineligible to vote!!
Horrifying!
Thanks for all you do to keep us sane and informed (along with the excellent investigative reporting of Judd Legum, historical analysis from Heather Cox Richardson and Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water daily activism).
So glad you (and your "managing editor") are finally feeling better!
On the difficulty of names. To get an "enhanced" drivers license I needed to provide a birth certificate--from almost 79 years ago. So I sent in an application to get one. It took over two months and a fair chunk of change. It came back with both mine and my father's name misspelled. (in the meantime I was actually able to renew my passport almost as fast as it took to get the certificate)
When attempting to get an "enhanced" driver license, my passport was not accepted & I needed to show my Social Security card -- a piece of paper with my name typed on it. This was when the "enhanced" version was first being offered. Made no sense to me then and still makes no sense to me.
Beth, a (current) passport is an acceptable ID to vote in most of the 36 states (and counting...) with voter ID laws. A notable exception comes to mind: Only if you are a resident of North Dakota temporarily living outside the country can you use a passport to apply for a mail-in ballot; whereas, those living in the state cannot. Remember that every state's law is different, including whether a gun permit is allowed! Please check VoteRiders' State Rules page (https://www.voteriders.org/staterules/)!!
Susan, your experience mirrors that of many others that we at VoteRiders have helped. Obtaining a government-issued photo ID is not easy. The process often takes significant time and money, which is why we're so proud to be doing this work year-round with and in the communities who need it most.
Thank you, Ms Unger and VoteRiders, for the important work you do “to ensure that all US citizens over 18 years old are able to exercise their right to vote”!
I became a naturalized U.S. citizen after I married my first husband so my citizenship certificate carried my married name at that time. We were divorced 23 years later and when I married my second husband 3 years after that, I applied for a name change on my citizenship certificate and on all my government-issued IDs (passport, social security card, driver license, voter registration, etc).
With all the voter ID laws designed to suppress/restrict citizens’ right to vote, women will now have to take all the necessary steps to make sure that their proof of citizenship reflect their current legal name.
Thank you, Mr Hubbell and Ms Levin, for shining a light on *women* as a group “targeted by onerous voter ID laws”!
Biden should take this opportunity to school Kevin..
"Grow up Kevin. The Constitution was even amended to ensure this nation pays its bills.
That's how important you should take this, as an obligation of Congress to be faithful to the Constitution and raise the debt ceiling as a non-negotiable matter of course."
How about Senate Democrats introducing a bill to repeal the debt limit bill. It wouldn’t pass the House, of course, and there’s a Democrat and a freshly minted Independent (guess who?) who would vote against it; but it would focus attention on the fiscal bad guys.
People who research and study the field make a distinction between gender and sex. Sex _is_ actually binary. People are born either male or female. There is a small fraction of the population born with different chromosomal structures, and fall under the category intersex, but this is rare, about 1.7% of the population. The great majority or people are born either male or female. On the other hand, gender refers to how someone behaves and lives socially. When a person becomes transgender, they use hormones and surgery in order to look and act more like the other sex. But the fact remains that they were born either male or female.
The problem with trans athletes competing with non-trans athletes is that trans girls and trans women, because they were born male, will have an advantage over natal females. They will be taller and stronger. As we deal with this issue more and more, it will become clear that trans boys and trans men will not want to compete with natal boys and men because they'll be disadvantaged, having been born female. The issue only presents itself with trans girls and trans women, because they have the advantage of having been born male and will tend to be stronger and taller. At the grade school level it seems the kindest and most welcoming for a young trans girl to run with her team, but the fact remains that sports in general is a very competitive field and in high school, college, and beyond, trans girls and trans women will put natal girls and natal women at a competitive disadvantage. In order to be fair to natal females but also allow trans athletes to compete, we’ll need to have a special category for trans athletes.
I agree. We need to consider what is fair—and it is not fair to require girls and women to compete against individuals who were born male. And, you are right, this will not be an issue for boys and men competing against individuals who were born female.
I agree that the issue of trans athletes is complicated, but the rarity of which you speak, 1.7%, equates to about 1 in 60, or more than 5,600,000 US citizens. Hardly insignificant.
While it is true that men will TEND to be taller and stronger, not all men ARE taller and stronger than women. One anti-trans activist was pissed because she tied for FIFTH place with a transgender women--proving that at least four natal women on her team were better than the transgender woman. This shouldn't be handled with blanket laws, but on a case by case basis. Let the kids train with the team of their gender identity. Develop some criteria for deciding whether any superiority is due to specifically male qualities (as opposed to skill. Remember Billie Jean King--skill counts). Either handicap them in actual competition or keep them from actual competitions if their superior performance is indeed the result of them being born male.
FYI After 4 months of hormone therapy, transwomen have Hgb/HCT levels equivalent to those of cisgender women. After 12 months of hormone therapy, significant decreases in measures of strength, LBM and muscle area are observed.
So this does equal out the field. It’s possible a gay woman would have more hormones for strength, etc than trans. Should gay women not be allowed to compete? Not much time/concern is looking at the science of things.
The comic book aspect of this is a picture of a high school linebacker type boy passing as a girl so he can dominate the girl’s soccer team. Men are not “ generally” taller and stronger than women. Or smarter or exhibit more leadership abilities. One state just passed a law which affected the one and only transgendered athlete within the state. It would be laughable but it exposes the paranoia that aspects of gender identity awake in the Republican Party. There is no “advantage” to being “born male “. None !
I respectfully disagree. In aggregate, men tend to be stronger and taller. Not on an individual basis, but in aggregate they are. For example, the average height of an American male is 5' 9". The average height of an American woman is 5' 4". In regards to intelligence and leadership I agree with you: men and women are equal.
I see many men who are 5'4" or less. My middle son who may certainly be an outlier, was 4'11 1/2" tall, but has now shrunk to 4'9" in height. I can't argue with "average height" but I will say my son loved basketball, and often won local championships and state championships because he could make baskets, despite his height.
You said, "In regards to intelligence and leadership I agree with you: men and women are equal." I find there are woman who can be persuaded to adapt to men's lead in discriminatory practices, hatred, and abuse but I don't see any way women can be categorized as equal in intelligence and leadership. https://www.naturalhr.com/2021/03/23/10-reasons-why-the-world-needs-more-women-in-leadership-roles/
It has been shown that women employing team buildings, problem solving, fairness and caring/empathy are better leaders. Sure there are exceptions to every rule. Joe Biden has empathy due to his stuttering and his losses of wife and children. And women who emulate sexist, racist, "strongmen" type leaders who are male. Show me the studies proving the equality of intelligence and leadership, I will read them but I doubt it will change my opinion.
What the "GOP" is seeking to impose is not "Christianity" as exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth.
I put "GOP" in quotes because the extremists currently using the name of the political party are in no way reflective of Abraham Lincoln's Republicans, and are closer to the Confederate secessionists who want to destroy the union. IJS
It’s no secret: the GQP wants to destroy our government and Democracy itself. It’s in plain view everywhere! Maybe first and foremost in plain view is Bannon’s own words.
"We're taking over all the elections,"
“We’re taking action. We’re taking over school boards. We’re taking over the Republican Party with the precinct committee strategy. We’re taking over all the elections.”
“We’re going to continue that and get to the bottom of 3 November and we’re going to decertify the electors and you’re going to have a constitutional crisis.”
Bannon has called on “4,000 shock troops” to “deconstruct” the federal government “brick by brick.”
“Hey, I want to be one of those 4,000 shock troops”. “This is taking on and defeating and deconstructing the administrative state”.
An article in the RollingStone had title in part:
“Steve Bannon Is Reminding Everyone That the Right Is Very Much Trying to Destroy Democracy”.
Sheesh, It couldn’t get any clearer than that! So let’s not mince words in any way, call it what it is. The Republican Party will stop at nothing in order to destroy our Democracy, even that means not raising the debt ceiling. In fact defaulting could very well be one of the tools in their destroy Democracy arsenal.
If Biden needs to raise the debt ceiling by executive order (or whatever means) then he should do it. No doubt the GQP extremists will impeach him. It’s all part of their plan: Destroy Democracy and Implement their own form of “government” be it authoritarian, dictatorship, a “Christian Democracy” “Illiberal democracy”. Again, Let’s not mince words!! Call it for what it is. Do whatever it takes to combat the insanity. Fight them at the ballot box, fight the insanity. Call out the right wing extremist hypocrites! Speak truth to power!
The Republican agenda to indoctrinate children into religion is disgusting. Yet, despite this desperate attempt, more and more young people are turning their backs on ‘organized’ religion.
Another great Newsletter. Thank you Robert. And now I will become the most unpopular person in the "Hubbell Forum".
President Biden will be remembered as the President who righted the ship of state after it had almost sunk to the bottom of the sea. His list of accomplishments (international and domestic) and his contributions to a return of civility and respect are enormously important. Despite a couple of areas where I vehemently disagree with him, I am proud that he is our President. He will be viewed as a "great one" through the lens of history. And I will be forever grateful he was there.
But if Joe Biden wants to secure the White House for Democrats in 2024, he will NOT run for re-election. Not because he is "too old". Not because he couldn't govern well for another four years. He could.
If Joe Biden runs, millions of Independent Young People will stay home - they won't vote. The vast majority of young people are "Independents" - they don't identify with either major party. The view from Gen Y and Gen Z is that our generation has failed. Failed at preventing school slaughters. Failed at getting big and dark, corporate money out of politics. Failed at giving younger generations better income in the face of rising costs of everything. Failed at reigning in the Oligarchs and their continuous personal enrichment at the expense of the first generations who can't expect to have a better life than their parents.
And the big one. Our generation has failed to work on the Climate Crisis. We have nibbled at it. But the oceans and the rivers and the winds and the fires are now in payback mode. President Biden's approval of the Conoco-Phillips Willow Project in Alaska was a fatal mistake. Not that this one project was Earth ending. But that approval sent a message to young people. It said that Biden played politics and didn't "get it". Even if he had lost in court, he should have stood next to his Indigenous American Secretary of the Interior and shouted "Hell, NO!" Sometimes you have to stand firm and create a symbolic act.
And then there is immigration. I don't have the correct formula for this one. But I am not impressed with our government's approach. How this will affect young voters, I am not sure. But Biden and the Democrats look feckless on this issue.
I believe that the Democrats are on the correct or better side of all issues. I will never vote for anyone else but a Democrat. I didn't feel that way 20 years ago. But I HAVE to feel that way now. And I will ALWAYS vote. And I suspect most here feel the same way. But the average age of the readership of this letter and LFAA is what we need to keep in mind. Most of us are near or well past the classic retirement age. And we have an enormous catalog of information that INSTRUCTS us as to why we must never vote for a GQP candidate - and that we MUST vote. But that's not how millions of young people feel. They are disgusted. They don't think the system works. They think older politicians are all the same. Useless.
Here is the thing. Gen Y and Gen Z will represent between 40% and 45% of the potential voters. If too many of them feel apathetic because the contest is between two old guys - who represent a generation that has destroyed the planet - we will lose. We can't afford to lose. The Earth can't afford to lose.
And that's only half of it. The other half is all the down ballot Democrats who won't get voted for at every level of our government, if the Presidential Candidate doesn't inspire young folks to vote. Legislators at the state and local level...and forget about regaining the House of Representatives and perhaps holding the Senate.
The Democratic bench is deep. There are many potential candidates who are younger, yet experienced. Who are on the correct side of the issues and who can inspire - with youthful vigor and clear speeches. Obama came out of nowhere - a first term Senator with a very short resume. Time for someone who can do the same again. Time to be unafraid and be confident in our message. But we need a new, well spoken younger messenger.
President Biden: Dump your ego and do the thing that's the best for our nation. And the planet.
The biggest problem of immigration is really overpopulation. Immigration is now driving the US population explosion ,and the US, the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita greenhouse emissions, is the worst place on the planet to put more people. Yet, we're going to add the equivalent of more than three NY States worth of immigrants over the next 40 years according to the Census Bureau. And immigration had long been my biggest single issue until Democracy became an issue.
If you're right that kids are going to vote against Biden because of Willow, heaven help us. But I don't think you are. And Biden is by far the best president of my lifetime (I date from early Eisenhower). Only LBJ had similar skills, likely even better skills, but alas, LBJ got us mired in Vietnam. And Biden has 20 years' more perspective than LBJ did.
We've added five million immigrants since Biden was elected, and the Census Bureau projects another 75 million, 90% of that from immigration, over the next 40 years. That's nearly equivalent of four New York states. The average immigrant's greenhouse emissions rise 3-fold after arrival, as most come from third world countries. The sprawl that will follow will cause a lot of greenhouse emissions because a lot of virgin land will be dug up, releasing the large quantities of CO2 embedded in virgin land, adding further to emissions. Ecosystem services will suffer greatly, including disease prevention, so look for more new diseases. (The tick-borne diseases like lyme, for example, weren't a problem when I was a kid in the '50s and '60s.)
Also, the carrying capacity of the US is already declining due to global warming. In the next several decades, millions of Americans are going to become climate refugees, according to Propublica. I don't know how old you are. But I'm afraid for my nephews and niece, and for my brother's grandchildren. Read this and you may feel the same way.
Hey David. I often appreciate your comments about one issue or another. Though when you equate immigration to greenhouse emissions, and the climate crisis, I am saddened. While inclined to respond, I often feel unprepared. And neither do I want to be reactive. Instead, I want to be mindful of our exchanges in this 'Beloved Community.' Truly.
So today, I'll simply share some thoughts. I am hardly an environmental expert, so forgive that which I offer, not as my own though pieces of what I've come to understand. And, I'm unable to provide supporting evidence at this time.
Still, if only we turned our attention to the big oil companies and to factory farming, and make a commitment to dramatic changes, these among others, we may well be in a better position to sustain and prepare our Earth for your nephews and mine, your niece and mine, and my brother's and sister's grandchildren.
I am the the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants who came to this country seeking a better life for their children. And that which they sought, they found. (Truth be told, they were not fleeing violence and oppression, as is the current reality.) Their children did not know hunger; and they had the freedoms and privileges of shelter, education and sustainable employment.
I say this not with the intention to prove a point. How would I without providing evidence or further inquiry? Neither am I proposing an issue of debate, since this deserves indepth exploration.
Instead, I offer this as a reflection on how I have felt on other occasions, as I did today, on reading your comments on the subject.
Respectfully yours, like you, a child of the '50s and '60s, Jean
It would be really nice if we could take in everyone who wants to come here. But we can't. I took environmental science with John Holdren in a class at Berkeley in 1975 which is where I first learned about global warming (he later became President Obama's Science Advisor), and I do a lot of writing about environmental issues. And I would urge you to read the Propublica article I posted, which will give you a sense of how bad things are going to be, whether or not we take on big oil and factory farming--if we grow by four NY State equivalents over the next 40 years (Census Bureau projections). Think of the country your grandchildren are going to inherit. Do you want it to be pleasant as it is now, or do you want it to be a mess? (Read the Propublica article! )
You should also be aware that while there's a lot of seemingly empty space in our country, there is a major water crisis in the West--even the Great Salt Lake may disappear in a few years; towns in Arizona are fighting over water, one town in Utah has banned new housing construction because of the lack of water. The Ogallala Aquifer, which underlies most of the Great Plains and provides water for what is grown on them, from the Canadian border all the way down to the Mexican border--or near it--is running out of water. So much of our country is not very inhabitable, and it's going to get less so.
The other side of this is that a lot of the people who try to come here walk thousands of miles over rugged terrain. They are people with gumption. Of course they want to come to a country that's wealthy compared to their own countries. It's an easy way out. But what if they couldn't come here--if we passed a national, mandatory E-Verify, which would remove the jobs magnet?
Try to imagine what such people could do to help their own countries build better economies, and better democracies if they stayed home! Wouldn't a world with those improved countries be a better world?
And we can't wave our hands and eliminate factory farming and big oil companies. We barely kept our Democracy intact, and we may have to be fighting more for it.
I know you'd like it to be a benign thing for us to take in millions more, but except for a few oddball, but small places like Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, from the point of view of global warming, we're the worst place on the planet to put more people. And this is us 20-30 years from now:
David, you continue to make interesting points - and I agree the challenge is enormous. You are right about the "job magnets". But I vehemently disagree with you relative to "big oil" and factory farming. With enough pressure "energy companies" can find ways to reduce fossil fuels consumption. Factory farming can be changed and along the way return millions of small farmers to the land - producing foods in sustainable ways. None of this can happen by waving that wand. But it can happen if we will it.
The migration of humans due to a radically different climate is becoming a reality - and before we leave this planet, we will see it compounded many times over. This is barely the beginning. This is the trailer, the preview so to speak.
And the economic truth is that we NEED more workers of almost every type - in the trades, in hospitals and other healthcare facilities - and schools! We need people to get stuff done. We are headed into the Japan scenario - too many old people and not enough younger ones to do society's work.
So I ask again, how do we view our species? As a nation that simply walls itself off? Or do we work with other nations to try to accommodate as many people as is reasonable?
Here is an interesting book. It is an exaggeration of what you are proposing. Which I find very scary. "The Wall" by John Lanchester
As a solution to the debt ceiling fiasco, economist Paul Krugman, Nobel prize winner and NYT columnist, suggested in an Oct 1, 2021 column that Biden direct the US Mint (an entity under his control) to mint a $1 trillion coin and deposit it with the Federal Reserve. The $1 trillion could then be drawn on to pay the country’s bills. NYT subscribers can find the article by searching “Krugman debt ceiling solution”. Yes it’s gimmicky—but no more so than what McCarthy is doing. Besides, all’s fair in love and debt ceiling wars . . .
Progressives need just this sort of creative. Now if they will just act. Jennifer Rubin suggest replacing Senator Durbin from his leadership roll. Yes please!
I really think that hoping the supremes will use the Bremerton Coach case to OK school Bible readings is misguided. The court opinion, to get to its idea that the Coach should be reinstated, had to squint REAL hard and to describe the event as a "moment of prayer on the sidelines;" what it was actually was the coach praying to a huddle of the whole team in the middle of the field. The question will be whether ears can squint so that reading the Bible to a class is really a moment of private prayer.
Looking forward to President Bidens announcement. Some time ago there was a discussion about Democrats needing a great tag line. I would like to suggest "Vote for Democracy" This has probably already been said before and I just don't remember.... but I still like it.
A cacophony of corruption. In the absence of building consensus on the basis of legitimate policy proposals open to debate, compromise and resolution, Republicans are doing their damndest to avoid all Democratic channels that would provide any means of national agreement and accord. They have abandoned any pretense of concern for democracy. As a business consultant over many years, I used an analogy to describe what happens to a company that ignores signs of its own troubles. "It's like an automobile reaching and driving over the peak of a summit and realizing that the car just ran out of gas. It's all downhill from there while the rate of decline increases to breakneck speed and the driver loses all possible control." This describes the Republican Party's prescribed destiny - to crash the vehicle of Democracy. The only survivors will be Fascistic, wealthy white men who will dictate our futures, enforced by new "SS"-style brigades, already armed, locked and loaded. Dystopian you say. Yes. There will come a time when words will no longer suffice.
Then what does hope look like? My wife and I are vacationing in Santa Fe at the moment. We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast. At the breakfast table the first morning, I met a gentleman who shared my first name, who was born the same month, whose sister had the same name as my wife, who shared similar interests and who was cordial and funny and available. I immediately was drawn to this individual. The conversation flourished until one of us mentioned politics which revealed a difference of opinions and affiliation. Under ordinary circumstances, such information would be a game changer. "That's one discussion we don't need to go near", he said. I responded, "Not now, anyway. We are enjoying this conversation too much". We exchanged phone numbers and agreed that the brief relationship of trust developed over coffee, frittata and scone was respectful and trusting enough to withstand further exploration. Lesson: Create conversation. Meet people where they are. Use words before they are useless...and we lose all hope.
That's a great story. I hope you can get to the point where you can discuss your differences with him in a way that doesn't threaten, but gives him the opportunity to realize that there are different ways of doing things.
I second the kudos to Judd Legum and Popular Information.
Judd and his team consistently punch above their weight and have had numerous successes highlighting right wing corruption! Consider supporting their highly effective newsletter!
In case anyone would like the link to go read (and subscribe): https://popular.info/archive
Newsflash: The present Republicans are the greatest threat to the republic in our history!
In other breaking news, water is still wet and sun continues to rise in the east.
I wanna check on where the sun's rising. Setting the alarm clock for tomorrow morning.
If a state mandates saying the 10 commandments in classrooms, teachers should ensure to make space for a reading from the Koran and any other religious text. That way it becomes educational at least. The GOP is fascist, I will say once again. Thanks for all you are doing Robert.
Such action will turn a portion of students against Republicans. Republicans are inflicting pain that will be remembered in the next elections.
Yes, we are already seeing this with students’ reaction to shooting drills. Hope the GOP are digging a very deep hole for themselves.
I found it so offensive that Tim Tebow was permitted to walk out on the football field and kneel and cross himself. If a Muslim walked out there and threw down his rug people would s h I t their pants! What an upheaval that would cause.
Remember ‘goose and gander’? Again, religion, the most destructive force on the planet. (my opinion of course, but certainly demonstrated in daily news).
“Religion” is a cloak for right-wing Christianity.
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/17/639726472/satanic-temple-protests-ten-commandments-monument-with-goat-headed-statue
https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2018-12-18/satanic-temple-allowed-to-intervene-in-ten-commandments-case
Almost every day, when I read Today’s Edition, I am grateful for the sophisticated rallying cry on behalf of American democracy. Thank you again.
Robert, two of my books and four of my "Telling Her Stories" programs explore how women fought for generations to get the right to vote so I was really taken aback to read Voter Rider's eye-popping statistics on women's voting eligibility in your column:
"Because of name changes associated with marriages and divorce, women frequently have a government-issued ID that does not match their legal name. As noted on the VoteRiders website, Based on current census data, the only available proof-of-citizenship documents possessed by almost 37 million voting-age women do not reflect their current name."
However I think you actually underestimate the damage -- you state: The above statistic is shocking. It means that nearly 15% of the eligible voting population (37 million/252 million) can be blocked from voting by restrictive voter ID laws.
I couldn't quickly find a breakdown of voting age population by gender but, given that men die younger than women, using a 55%/45% F/M ratio, it would mean that over 27% (37M/138M) of women in voter ID states are ineligible to vote!!
Horrifying!
Thanks for all you do to keep us sane and informed (along with the excellent investigative reporting of Judd Legum, historical analysis from Heather Cox Richardson and Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water daily activism).
So glad you (and your "managing editor") are finally feeling better!
Carol Simon Levin www.tellingherstories.com
On the difficulty of names. To get an "enhanced" drivers license I needed to provide a birth certificate--from almost 79 years ago. So I sent in an application to get one. It took over two months and a fair chunk of change. It came back with both mine and my father's name misspelled. (in the meantime I was actually able to renew my passport almost as fast as it took to get the certificate)
Yet the passport doesn't count as acceptable ID 🤦🏼♀️ But a gun permit does. 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
When attempting to get an "enhanced" driver license, my passport was not accepted & I needed to show my Social Security card -- a piece of paper with my name typed on it. This was when the "enhanced" version was first being offered. Made no sense to me then and still makes no sense to me.
Beth, a (current) passport is an acceptable ID to vote in most of the 36 states (and counting...) with voter ID laws. A notable exception comes to mind: Only if you are a resident of North Dakota temporarily living outside the country can you use a passport to apply for a mail-in ballot; whereas, those living in the state cannot. Remember that every state's law is different, including whether a gun permit is allowed! Please check VoteRiders' State Rules page (https://www.voteriders.org/staterules/)!!
I realize that. I was just trying to express the absurdity of all the varying laws.
Thank you, Beth, for having written your note as it gave me the opportunity to share the North Dakota situation with everyone!
Susan, your experience mirrors that of many others that we at VoteRiders have helped. Obtaining a government-issued photo ID is not easy. The process often takes significant time and money, which is why we're so proud to be doing this work year-round with and in the communities who need it most.
Thank you, Ms Unger and VoteRiders, for the important work you do “to ensure that all US citizens over 18 years old are able to exercise their right to vote”!
I became a naturalized U.S. citizen after I married my first husband so my citizenship certificate carried my married name at that time. We were divorced 23 years later and when I married my second husband 3 years after that, I applied for a name change on my citizenship certificate and on all my government-issued IDs (passport, social security card, driver license, voter registration, etc).
With all the voter ID laws designed to suppress/restrict citizens’ right to vote, women will now have to take all the necessary steps to make sure that their proof of citizenship reflect their current legal name.
Thank you, Mr Hubbell and Ms Levin, for shining a light on *women* as a group “targeted by onerous voter ID laws”!
Biden should take this opportunity to school Kevin..
"Grow up Kevin. The Constitution was even amended to ensure this nation pays its bills.
That's how important you should take this, as an obligation of Congress to be faithful to the Constitution and raise the debt ceiling as a non-negotiable matter of course."
Great point! “The nation, like our hardworking families, needs to pay its bills. Oh, and we do not negotiate with terrorists.”
How about Senate Democrats introducing a bill to repeal the debt limit bill. It wouldn’t pass the House, of course, and there’s a Democrat and a freshly minted Independent (guess who?) who would vote against it; but it would focus attention on the fiscal bad guys.
People who research and study the field make a distinction between gender and sex. Sex _is_ actually binary. People are born either male or female. There is a small fraction of the population born with different chromosomal structures, and fall under the category intersex, but this is rare, about 1.7% of the population. The great majority or people are born either male or female. On the other hand, gender refers to how someone behaves and lives socially. When a person becomes transgender, they use hormones and surgery in order to look and act more like the other sex. But the fact remains that they were born either male or female.
The problem with trans athletes competing with non-trans athletes is that trans girls and trans women, because they were born male, will have an advantage over natal females. They will be taller and stronger. As we deal with this issue more and more, it will become clear that trans boys and trans men will not want to compete with natal boys and men because they'll be disadvantaged, having been born female. The issue only presents itself with trans girls and trans women, because they have the advantage of having been born male and will tend to be stronger and taller. At the grade school level it seems the kindest and most welcoming for a young trans girl to run with her team, but the fact remains that sports in general is a very competitive field and in high school, college, and beyond, trans girls and trans women will put natal girls and natal women at a competitive disadvantage. In order to be fair to natal females but also allow trans athletes to compete, we’ll need to have a special category for trans athletes.
Maybe we pay too much attention to sports. I know I do.
I agree. We need to consider what is fair—and it is not fair to require girls and women to compete against individuals who were born male. And, you are right, this will not be an issue for boys and men competing against individuals who were born female.
I agree that the issue of trans athletes is complicated, but the rarity of which you speak, 1.7%, equates to about 1 in 60, or more than 5,600,000 US citizens. Hardly insignificant.
I agree with your point, but I think you meant to say 5,600,000 citizens. Still a huge number to dismiss out of hand as "rare."
Good thing I wasn't writing a check! Thanks for the correction.
While it is true that men will TEND to be taller and stronger, not all men ARE taller and stronger than women. One anti-trans activist was pissed because she tied for FIFTH place with a transgender women--proving that at least four natal women on her team were better than the transgender woman. This shouldn't be handled with blanket laws, but on a case by case basis. Let the kids train with the team of their gender identity. Develop some criteria for deciding whether any superiority is due to specifically male qualities (as opposed to skill. Remember Billie Jean King--skill counts). Either handicap them in actual competition or keep them from actual competitions if their superior performance is indeed the result of them being born male.
FYI After 4 months of hormone therapy, transwomen have Hgb/HCT levels equivalent to those of cisgender women. After 12 months of hormone therapy, significant decreases in measures of strength, LBM and muscle area are observed.
So this does equal out the field. It’s possible a gay woman would have more hormones for strength, etc than trans. Should gay women not be allowed to compete? Not much time/concern is looking at the science of things.
The comic book aspect of this is a picture of a high school linebacker type boy passing as a girl so he can dominate the girl’s soccer team. Men are not “ generally” taller and stronger than women. Or smarter or exhibit more leadership abilities. One state just passed a law which affected the one and only transgendered athlete within the state. It would be laughable but it exposes the paranoia that aspects of gender identity awake in the Republican Party. There is no “advantage” to being “born male “. None !
I respectfully disagree. In aggregate, men tend to be stronger and taller. Not on an individual basis, but in aggregate they are. For example, the average height of an American male is 5' 9". The average height of an American woman is 5' 4". In regards to intelligence and leadership I agree with you: men and women are equal.
I see many men who are 5'4" or less. My middle son who may certainly be an outlier, was 4'11 1/2" tall, but has now shrunk to 4'9" in height. I can't argue with "average height" but I will say my son loved basketball, and often won local championships and state championships because he could make baskets, despite his height.
You said, "In regards to intelligence and leadership I agree with you: men and women are equal." I find there are woman who can be persuaded to adapt to men's lead in discriminatory practices, hatred, and abuse but I don't see any way women can be categorized as equal in intelligence and leadership. https://www.naturalhr.com/2021/03/23/10-reasons-why-the-world-needs-more-women-in-leadership-roles/
It has been shown that women employing team buildings, problem solving, fairness and caring/empathy are better leaders. Sure there are exceptions to every rule. Joe Biden has empathy due to his stuttering and his losses of wife and children. And women who emulate sexist, racist, "strongmen" type leaders who are male. Show me the studies proving the equality of intelligence and leadership, I will read them but I doubt it will change my opinion.
Thanks!
We certainly live in "interesting times."
SCOTUS needs a complete overhaul.
What the "GOP" is seeking to impose is not "Christianity" as exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth.
I put "GOP" in quotes because the extremists currently using the name of the political party are in no way reflective of Abraham Lincoln's Republicans, and are closer to the Confederate secessionists who want to destroy the union. IJS
It’s no secret: the GQP wants to destroy our government and Democracy itself. It’s in plain view everywhere! Maybe first and foremost in plain view is Bannon’s own words.
"We're taking over all the elections,"
“We’re taking action. We’re taking over school boards. We’re taking over the Republican Party with the precinct committee strategy. We’re taking over all the elections.”
“We’re going to continue that and get to the bottom of 3 November and we’re going to decertify the electors and you’re going to have a constitutional crisis.”
Bannon has called on “4,000 shock troops” to “deconstruct” the federal government “brick by brick.”
“Hey, I want to be one of those 4,000 shock troops”. “This is taking on and defeating and deconstructing the administrative state”.
An article in the RollingStone had title in part:
“Steve Bannon Is Reminding Everyone That the Right Is Very Much Trying to Destroy Democracy”.
Sheesh, It couldn’t get any clearer than that! So let’s not mince words in any way, call it what it is. The Republican Party will stop at nothing in order to destroy our Democracy, even that means not raising the debt ceiling. In fact defaulting could very well be one of the tools in their destroy Democracy arsenal.
If Biden needs to raise the debt ceiling by executive order (or whatever means) then he should do it. No doubt the GQP extremists will impeach him. It’s all part of their plan: Destroy Democracy and Implement their own form of “government” be it authoritarian, dictatorship, a “Christian Democracy” “Illiberal democracy”. Again, Let’s not mince words!! Call it for what it is. Do whatever it takes to combat the insanity. Fight them at the ballot box, fight the insanity. Call out the right wing extremist hypocrites! Speak truth to power!
The Republican agenda to indoctrinate children into religion is disgusting. Yet, despite this desperate attempt, more and more young people are turning their backs on ‘organized’ religion.
Another great Newsletter. Thank you Robert. And now I will become the most unpopular person in the "Hubbell Forum".
President Biden will be remembered as the President who righted the ship of state after it had almost sunk to the bottom of the sea. His list of accomplishments (international and domestic) and his contributions to a return of civility and respect are enormously important. Despite a couple of areas where I vehemently disagree with him, I am proud that he is our President. He will be viewed as a "great one" through the lens of history. And I will be forever grateful he was there.
But if Joe Biden wants to secure the White House for Democrats in 2024, he will NOT run for re-election. Not because he is "too old". Not because he couldn't govern well for another four years. He could.
If Joe Biden runs, millions of Independent Young People will stay home - they won't vote. The vast majority of young people are "Independents" - they don't identify with either major party. The view from Gen Y and Gen Z is that our generation has failed. Failed at preventing school slaughters. Failed at getting big and dark, corporate money out of politics. Failed at giving younger generations better income in the face of rising costs of everything. Failed at reigning in the Oligarchs and their continuous personal enrichment at the expense of the first generations who can't expect to have a better life than their parents.
And the big one. Our generation has failed to work on the Climate Crisis. We have nibbled at it. But the oceans and the rivers and the winds and the fires are now in payback mode. President Biden's approval of the Conoco-Phillips Willow Project in Alaska was a fatal mistake. Not that this one project was Earth ending. But that approval sent a message to young people. It said that Biden played politics and didn't "get it". Even if he had lost in court, he should have stood next to his Indigenous American Secretary of the Interior and shouted "Hell, NO!" Sometimes you have to stand firm and create a symbolic act.
And then there is immigration. I don't have the correct formula for this one. But I am not impressed with our government's approach. How this will affect young voters, I am not sure. But Biden and the Democrats look feckless on this issue.
I believe that the Democrats are on the correct or better side of all issues. I will never vote for anyone else but a Democrat. I didn't feel that way 20 years ago. But I HAVE to feel that way now. And I will ALWAYS vote. And I suspect most here feel the same way. But the average age of the readership of this letter and LFAA is what we need to keep in mind. Most of us are near or well past the classic retirement age. And we have an enormous catalog of information that INSTRUCTS us as to why we must never vote for a GQP candidate - and that we MUST vote. But that's not how millions of young people feel. They are disgusted. They don't think the system works. They think older politicians are all the same. Useless.
Here is the thing. Gen Y and Gen Z will represent between 40% and 45% of the potential voters. If too many of them feel apathetic because the contest is between two old guys - who represent a generation that has destroyed the planet - we will lose. We can't afford to lose. The Earth can't afford to lose.
And that's only half of it. The other half is all the down ballot Democrats who won't get voted for at every level of our government, if the Presidential Candidate doesn't inspire young folks to vote. Legislators at the state and local level...and forget about regaining the House of Representatives and perhaps holding the Senate.
The Democratic bench is deep. There are many potential candidates who are younger, yet experienced. Who are on the correct side of the issues and who can inspire - with youthful vigor and clear speeches. Obama came out of nowhere - a first term Senator with a very short resume. Time for someone who can do the same again. Time to be unafraid and be confident in our message. But we need a new, well spoken younger messenger.
President Biden: Dump your ego and do the thing that's the best for our nation. And the planet.
Hello Pete Buttigieg.
Pete is the smartest guy in DC. He is eloquent. He can spar effectively with anyone. He would make mincemeat out of any GQP candidate.
Oh...but wait, "is America ready for a gay President?" Was America ready for a black President? Absolutely.
The vast majority of Americans know or are related to somebody who is queer. And the vast majority support full rights for them.
Who cares if the 25% of America (the deplorables) won't vote for him?
Put him on the debate stage please!
And who else?
The biggest problem of immigration is really overpopulation. Immigration is now driving the US population explosion ,and the US, the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita greenhouse emissions, is the worst place on the planet to put more people. Yet, we're going to add the equivalent of more than three NY States worth of immigrants over the next 40 years according to the Census Bureau. And immigration had long been my biggest single issue until Democracy became an issue.
If you're right that kids are going to vote against Biden because of Willow, heaven help us. But I don't think you are. And Biden is by far the best president of my lifetime (I date from early Eisenhower). Only LBJ had similar skills, likely even better skills, but alas, LBJ got us mired in Vietnam. And Biden has 20 years' more perspective than LBJ did.
Agree that we are overpopulated. But the American population explosion is over. We are not even replacing ourselves.
We need millions of workers. And I know where there are lots of job applicants who want to work hard.
Are we humans or Americans first?
We've added five million immigrants since Biden was elected, and the Census Bureau projects another 75 million, 90% of that from immigration, over the next 40 years. That's nearly equivalent of four New York states. The average immigrant's greenhouse emissions rise 3-fold after arrival, as most come from third world countries. The sprawl that will follow will cause a lot of greenhouse emissions because a lot of virgin land will be dug up, releasing the large quantities of CO2 embedded in virgin land, adding further to emissions. Ecosystem services will suffer greatly, including disease prevention, so look for more new diseases. (The tick-borne diseases like lyme, for example, weren't a problem when I was a kid in the '50s and '60s.)
Also, the carrying capacity of the US is already declining due to global warming. In the next several decades, millions of Americans are going to become climate refugees, according to Propublica. I don't know how old you are. But I'm afraid for my nephews and niece, and for my brother's grandchildren. Read this and you may feel the same way.
https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-will-force-a-new-american-migration
Hey David. I often appreciate your comments about one issue or another. Though when you equate immigration to greenhouse emissions, and the climate crisis, I am saddened. While inclined to respond, I often feel unprepared. And neither do I want to be reactive. Instead, I want to be mindful of our exchanges in this 'Beloved Community.' Truly.
So today, I'll simply share some thoughts. I am hardly an environmental expert, so forgive that which I offer, not as my own though pieces of what I've come to understand. And, I'm unable to provide supporting evidence at this time.
Still, if only we turned our attention to the big oil companies and to factory farming, and make a commitment to dramatic changes, these among others, we may well be in a better position to sustain and prepare our Earth for your nephews and mine, your niece and mine, and my brother's and sister's grandchildren.
I am the the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants who came to this country seeking a better life for their children. And that which they sought, they found. (Truth be told, they were not fleeing violence and oppression, as is the current reality.) Their children did not know hunger; and they had the freedoms and privileges of shelter, education and sustainable employment.
I say this not with the intention to prove a point. How would I without providing evidence or further inquiry? Neither am I proposing an issue of debate, since this deserves indepth exploration.
Instead, I offer this as a reflection on how I have felt on other occasions, as I did today, on reading your comments on the subject.
Respectfully yours, like you, a child of the '50s and '60s, Jean
Jean,
It would be really nice if we could take in everyone who wants to come here. But we can't. I took environmental science with John Holdren in a class at Berkeley in 1975 which is where I first learned about global warming (he later became President Obama's Science Advisor), and I do a lot of writing about environmental issues. And I would urge you to read the Propublica article I posted, which will give you a sense of how bad things are going to be, whether or not we take on big oil and factory farming--if we grow by four NY State equivalents over the next 40 years (Census Bureau projections). Think of the country your grandchildren are going to inherit. Do you want it to be pleasant as it is now, or do you want it to be a mess? (Read the Propublica article! )
You should also be aware that while there's a lot of seemingly empty space in our country, there is a major water crisis in the West--even the Great Salt Lake may disappear in a few years; towns in Arizona are fighting over water, one town in Utah has banned new housing construction because of the lack of water. The Ogallala Aquifer, which underlies most of the Great Plains and provides water for what is grown on them, from the Canadian border all the way down to the Mexican border--or near it--is running out of water. So much of our country is not very inhabitable, and it's going to get less so.
The other side of this is that a lot of the people who try to come here walk thousands of miles over rugged terrain. They are people with gumption. Of course they want to come to a country that's wealthy compared to their own countries. It's an easy way out. But what if they couldn't come here--if we passed a national, mandatory E-Verify, which would remove the jobs magnet?
Try to imagine what such people could do to help their own countries build better economies, and better democracies if they stayed home! Wouldn't a world with those improved countries be a better world?
And we can't wave our hands and eliminate factory farming and big oil companies. We barely kept our Democracy intact, and we may have to be fighting more for it.
I know you'd like it to be a benign thing for us to take in millions more, but except for a few oddball, but small places like Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, from the point of view of global warming, we're the worst place on the planet to put more people. And this is us 20-30 years from now:
https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-will-force-a-new-american-migration
David, you continue to make interesting points - and I agree the challenge is enormous. You are right about the "job magnets". But I vehemently disagree with you relative to "big oil" and factory farming. With enough pressure "energy companies" can find ways to reduce fossil fuels consumption. Factory farming can be changed and along the way return millions of small farmers to the land - producing foods in sustainable ways. None of this can happen by waving that wand. But it can happen if we will it.
The migration of humans due to a radically different climate is becoming a reality - and before we leave this planet, we will see it compounded many times over. This is barely the beginning. This is the trailer, the preview so to speak.
And the economic truth is that we NEED more workers of almost every type - in the trades, in hospitals and other healthcare facilities - and schools! We need people to get stuff done. We are headed into the Japan scenario - too many old people and not enough younger ones to do society's work.
So I ask again, how do we view our species? As a nation that simply walls itself off? Or do we work with other nations to try to accommodate as many people as is reasonable?
Here is an interesting book. It is an exaggeration of what you are proposing. Which I find very scary. "The Wall" by John Lanchester
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/45894062
“The view from Gen Y and Gen Z is that our generation has failed. Failed at preventing school slaughters.”
(Continued:)
So tell me: from what Generations have American mass (and smaller-bore) killers come?
As a solution to the debt ceiling fiasco, economist Paul Krugman, Nobel prize winner and NYT columnist, suggested in an Oct 1, 2021 column that Biden direct the US Mint (an entity under his control) to mint a $1 trillion coin and deposit it with the Federal Reserve. The $1 trillion could then be drawn on to pay the country’s bills. NYT subscribers can find the article by searching “Krugman debt ceiling solution”. Yes it’s gimmicky—but no more so than what McCarthy is doing. Besides, all’s fair in love and debt ceiling wars . . .
Progressives need just this sort of creative. Now if they will just act. Jennifer Rubin suggest replacing Senator Durbin from his leadership roll. Yes please!
A much tougher person is needed in his position
???
I really think that hoping the supremes will use the Bremerton Coach case to OK school Bible readings is misguided. The court opinion, to get to its idea that the Coach should be reinstated, had to squint REAL hard and to describe the event as a "moment of prayer on the sidelines;" what it was actually was the coach praying to a huddle of the whole team in the middle of the field. The question will be whether ears can squint so that reading the Bible to a class is really a moment of private prayer.
Looking forward to President Bidens announcement. Some time ago there was a discussion about Democrats needing a great tag line. I would like to suggest "Vote for Democracy" This has probably already been said before and I just don't remember.... but I still like it.
A cacophony of corruption. In the absence of building consensus on the basis of legitimate policy proposals open to debate, compromise and resolution, Republicans are doing their damndest to avoid all Democratic channels that would provide any means of national agreement and accord. They have abandoned any pretense of concern for democracy. As a business consultant over many years, I used an analogy to describe what happens to a company that ignores signs of its own troubles. "It's like an automobile reaching and driving over the peak of a summit and realizing that the car just ran out of gas. It's all downhill from there while the rate of decline increases to breakneck speed and the driver loses all possible control." This describes the Republican Party's prescribed destiny - to crash the vehicle of Democracy. The only survivors will be Fascistic, wealthy white men who will dictate our futures, enforced by new "SS"-style brigades, already armed, locked and loaded. Dystopian you say. Yes. There will come a time when words will no longer suffice.
Then what does hope look like? My wife and I are vacationing in Santa Fe at the moment. We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast. At the breakfast table the first morning, I met a gentleman who shared my first name, who was born the same month, whose sister had the same name as my wife, who shared similar interests and who was cordial and funny and available. I immediately was drawn to this individual. The conversation flourished until one of us mentioned politics which revealed a difference of opinions and affiliation. Under ordinary circumstances, such information would be a game changer. "That's one discussion we don't need to go near", he said. I responded, "Not now, anyway. We are enjoying this conversation too much". We exchanged phone numbers and agreed that the brief relationship of trust developed over coffee, frittata and scone was respectful and trusting enough to withstand further exploration. Lesson: Create conversation. Meet people where they are. Use words before they are useless...and we lose all hope.
That's a great story. I hope you can get to the point where you can discuss your differences with him in a way that doesn't threaten, but gives him the opportunity to realize that there are different ways of doing things.
Nobody likes Kevin
Kevin ‘who’?
Oh, forget him.